Myths of Greece and Rome Narrated with Special Reference to Literature and Art

Page: 122

On another occasion, when Jason visited Phineus, the blind
king of Thrace, he heard that this monarch’s life was imbittered
by the Harpies, vile monsters, part woman,
part bird, who ate or befouled all the food placed
before him, and never let him eat a mouthful in peace. Having
repeated this tale to his companions, the two sons of Boreas,
who were also in the Argo, begged permission to drive
them away. Jason could not refuse their request; and the two
youths, with drawn swords, pursued the Harpies to the Strophades
Islands, where the birds promised to remain.

Jason, sailing on in the mean while, was attacked by a flock
of brazen-feathered birds, which rained their sharp plumage down
upon the Argonauts, wounding many of them sorely. The captain
of the expedition, seeing weapons were of no avail against
these foes, consulted the figurehead, and, in obedience to its
directions, clashed his arms against his shield, until, terrified by
the din, the brazen-feathered birds flew rapidly away, uttering discordant
cries of terror.